Dingo Vacations – Page 163 – The (Mostly) True Adventures of Lupe

Days 7 & 8 of Lupe’s 2012 Dingo Vacation to the West Coast.

The sky was just starting to get light. Lupe and SPHP were up and out of Lupe’s “tiny house” (tent) to greet the day before Lanis woke up. Lupe, Lanis and SPHP were camped on the beautiful Clark’s Fork of the Yellowstone River. Lupe sat on SPHP’s lap wrapped in a blanket for a long time, watching the sunlight start shining on Pilot (11,699 ft.) and Index (11,240 ft.) Peaks beyond the bend in the river.

After a while, Lupe felt like sniffing around in the forest. After two days in Yellowstone National Park, where she wasn’t free to do much more than ride in Lanis’ Honda Element, Lupe was just happy to be free again. While SPHP made breakfast, Lupe roamed a little downstream exploring the Clark’s Fork of the Yellowstone.

Lupe explores the Clark's Fork of the Yellowstone River in the early morning light. — Lupe explores the Clark’s Fork of the Yellowstone River in the early morning light.

A deer visited Lupe's camp. — A deer visited Lupe’s camp.

But Lupe was too busy watching squirrels to worry about deer and spiders. — But Lupe was too busy watching squirrels to worry about the deer and spider.

Eventually Lanis woke up. Lanis & SPHP discussed plans for the day. If Lupe was going to get all the way to the west coast, it was probably time for her to start making her way farther W pretty soon. However, since Lupe’s recent trip to Beauty and Becker Lakes had been so gorgeous, SPHP suggested spending one more day in the Beartooths before moving on. Lupe would get a lot of exercise, which would make her happier riding in the Element the following day. Lanis agreed.

The Honda Element and Lupe's tiny house along the Clark's Fork of the Yellowstone River. — The Honda Element and Lupe’s tiny house along the Clark’s Fork of the Yellowstone River.

Lanis has breakfast along the river with Pilot and Index Peak in the distance. It was pretty hazy out all day long due to big forest fires in Idaho. — Lanis has breakfast along the river with Pilot (L) and Index (R) Peaks in the distance. It was pretty hazy out all day long due to big forest fires far away in Idaho.

After breakfast, Lupe, Lanis and SPHP hopped in the Element and headed E on the Beartooth Hwy No. 212. Lanis stopped at the Top of the World store. SPHP ran in to buy a couple of topo maps. Meanwhile, Lanis checked out the directions outside.

The directions outside the Top of the World Store weren't as helpful as Lanis had hoped. — The directions outside the Top of the World Store weren’t as helpful as Lanis had hoped.

After consulting SPHP’s new topo maps, it was decided to check out part of the Beartooth Loop National Recreational Trail. There was a trailhead just a few miles E along Hwy 212 near Long Lake. Soon Lupe, Lanis and SPHP were setting out on the trail. Lupe was very happy! There was a lot of open ground with sweeping vistas where she could run and run. She was full of energy!

The trail went past several lakes. Hauser Lake came first. Quite a bit farther on, down in a valley, Lupe reached Losekamp Lake. From Losekamp Lake, Lupe followed a spur trail that wound E up onto a ridge N of Tibbs Butte. Up on the ridge, Lupe, Lanis and SPHP turned N to reach Gardner Lake – Lupe’s ultimate destination.

Open ground along the Beartooth Loop National Recreational Trail. Lupe ran all day!

Gardner Lake in the Beartooths. Photo looks N along the W shore.

The trek to Gardner Lake wasn’t as spectacularly beautiful as Lupe’s trip to Beauty and Becker Lakes a few days earlier. There weren’t as many lakes and streams, the mountains didn’t seem quite as close or high, the forests were sparser and more distant, and there weren’t as many wildflowers.

On the other hand, there was much more open grassland where Lupe could race along with her nose to the ground sniffing at top speed. At some points, there were some pretty grand sweeping vistas. Best of all, there was absolutely no one else around. And at Gardner Lake, Lanis did manage to find some pretty nice wildflowers near the shore.

Except for a long exploration of the forested ridge NE of Losekamp Lake, where Lanis and SPHP split up for a while, Lupe’s return trip from Gardner Lake just retraced her path from earlier in the day. By the time Lupe was back at the Honda Element again, there was no question that she’d gotten enough exercise. She had run all day long. It had been a wonderful day to be a Carolina Dog wild and free in the Beartooths!

Lupe and Lanis near a pond just downstream of Gardner Lake. Tibbs Butte is seen in the distance. Photo looks S.

Lupe, Lanis and SPHP returned to the campsite on the Clark’s Fork of the Yellowstone River for another night in Lupe’s tiny house. During her last evening on the beautiful river, the American Dingo slept very soundly.

The next morning, it was time to leave the Beartooths and start heading farther W. After breakfast, Lanis and SPHP broke camp and packed up Lupe’s tiny house. When everything was ready, Lupe jumped up into the Honda Element ready for whatever adventure might be next.

Lanis drove the Element E on Beartooth Hwy No. 212 again, just like the day before. This time, Lupe was going to go over 10,947 foot Beartooth Pass, the highest point she had ever been to yet! She was then going to cross the border into Montana for the very first time, making Montana the 3rd Lupe state!

Just a few miles before reaching Beartooth Pass, Hwy 212 was up on top of barren mountains overlooking Gardner Lake, where Lupe had been just the day before. Naturally, Lupe, Lanis and SPHP wanted to stop and take a look at Gardner Lake from above.

Fog started sweeping over the ridge ahead as Lupe neared Beartooth Pass. Up at the pass, the tops of the mountains were mostly clear, but the giant valleys and canyons to the N were full of clouds. Lupe, Lanis and SPHP stopped for 20 or 30 minutes to look around, but it didn’t take long to get the idea what a bank of fog looked like. Soon Lupe was on her way again.

Fog starts sweeping across the highway in places as Lupe approaches Beartooth Pass.

The mountains had trapped a big bank of clouds N of Beartooth Pass. Photo looks NW. — The mountains had trapped a big bank of clouds N of the pass. Photo looks NW.

The border with Montana was just a few miles from Beartooth Pass, where the highway was still at a great height in the mountains. Amazingly, there was a speed limit 70 mph sign up there!

Lanis especially found this highly amusing. It was obviously some kind of Darwinian Introduction to Montana/Wyoming Intelligence Test (DIMWIT) to see if tourists were smart enough to survive in Montana. For what lay ahead was not a nice straight, smooth highway, but miles of 20 mph, 15 mph, and even 10 mph hairpin curves snaking tortuously along the brink of tremendous precipices.

Partway down the giant descent, there was a little parking lot at a viewpoint. Lupe, Lanis and SPHP stopped to check it out.

The first thing Lupe discovered at the viewpoint, was that squirrels were using little holes built into the bottom of the rock retaining walls to come onto the walkways and beg for food from tourists. Lupe was keenly interested in the frequent sudden appearance, and subsequent disappearance of all these squirrels! She peered over the walls to see where all these squirrels were disappearing to.

Lanis at the viewpoint N of Beartooth Pass in Montana. Clearly not having as much fun as Lupe! Perhaps suffering from coffee deprivation?

Lupe thought this viewpoint along the Beartooth Hwy, was great fun! She wanted to stay and play Catch-A-Squirrel (the American Dingo version of Whack-A-Mole) all day!

With all the clouds trapped on the N side of the Beartooth Mountains, it wasn’t surprising that it was raining by the time Lupe reached Red Lodge, Montana. Lupe spent the afternoon snoozing comfortably in the Element while Lanis drove on to Bozeman.

In Bozeman, for the 1st time on her big 2012 Dingo Vacation, Lupe got to stay in the lap of luxury at a motel near I-90. She was very curious about it all, but was on her very best behavior. Dingoes are very adaptable to a wide range of conditions. Rest assured, Lupe took a dose of soft living completely in stride!

Lupe leaves the driving to Lanis on the way to Bozeman, MT.

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Day 6 of Lupe’s 2012 Dingo Vacation to the West Coast.

Yellowstone National Park is big. Even on just a very quick tour through the park, Lupe, Lanis and SPHP had only made it as far as the Lower Geyser Basin on the first day. After the sun had set, Lanis drove to the town of West Yellowstone just outside the park for the night. The next morning, Lupe returned to Yellowstone National Park to complete her tour.

The day before, Lupe had been very good about being willing to wait in or near the Honda Element, while Lanis and SPHP took turns exploring sights along short trails off the road. She had been perhaps a bit tired from her prior fabulous long day in the Beartooth Mountains going to Beauty and Becker Lakes. After a day of rest, though, SPHP wasn’t sure how much longer the active Carolina Dog was going to be happy with this arrangement.

The main attraction SPHP still wanted to see was the Norris Geyser Basin. There could be other stops along the way for Lanis to get out and look around, but SPHP would have to skip taking a turn on the trails at some of those stops to save time. Hopefully, there would still be time later in the day to exit Yellowstone National Park and it’s not-too-dog-friendly rules, so Lupe could get to a trail where she would be free to explore and run around.

The first stop was Gibbon Falls, an 84 foot high waterfall on the Gibbon River. It was visible from right next to the highway, so Lupe got to see it.

There were a couple of other stops along the way prior to reaching the Norris Geyser Basin. Lanis toured the Artist Paint Pots. He returned to report that they were pretty similar in most respects to the Fountain Paint Pots at the Lower Geyser Basin.The Norris Geyser Basin is pretty big. SPHP was disappointed to learn that a former highlight of the Norris Geyser Basin, the Echinus Geyser (privately known as the “Big P’tui”), rarely erupts now. There were still plenty of pretty steaming hot springs and noisy steam vents to look at. SPHP judged the tiny Minute Geyser, which was very active, the best display on this day.

Both SPHP and Lanis took turns staying with Lupe to allow the other to tour the Norris Geyser Basin. Lupe had to content herself with squirrel and chipmunk watching from the parking lot.

SPHP had been to the Norris Geyser Basin before. It had seemed considerably more active years ago. However, it was now nearly mid-August. The weather was hot and dry for Yellowstone. The steam from all the vents, hot springs and geysers is always more impressive on cooler, higher humidity days when it hangs in the air longer and forms bigger clouds.

The last big stop in Yellowstone National Park was at Mammoth Hot Springs. SPHP stayed with Lupe. It was really hot and sunny by this time. Lupe and SPHP amused themselves as best they could while waiting for Lanis to return. It seemed like he was gone a long time, but eventually he did appear again.

Lanis had gotten so entranced with looking at Mammoth Hot Springs he had gone a long way down the stairs on the wooden trails. He hadn’t realized how huge Mammoth Hot Springs was, or how much elevation he had lost until it was time to return. Without any water with him, it had been a long, hot, slow climb back up to where the Element was parked.

Most of Mammoth Hot Springs was dry and dead looking at this time of year. The hot springs were most colorful and beautiful where there was still water. Interestingly, the water that surfaces at Mammoth Hot Springs comes underground along a fault line all the way from the Norris Geyser Basin.

Mammoth Hot Springs is the largest travertine terrace in the world.

Yellowstone National Park has the world’s largest collection of amazing geothermal features. Lupe would have been glad to stay there longer, if she had been allowed out on the trails. Park rules were against it, though, so it was time for Lupe to move on, content with the wonders she did have the good fortune to see.

Lupe, Lanis, and SPHP returned to the Beartooth Mountains E of Cooke City, MT. There was still time for a hike on a trail Lupe could explore. Before setting out on a trail to Kersey Lake, there was a quick rest stop at a campground.

The restroom there featured a rather sturdy looking lock. It looked brand new. It operated perfectly. The odd thing about it was that the lock was on the outside of the restroom, a cause of considerable mirth to Lanis. It would be so easy to lock someone in there! Neither Lanis nor SPHP could fathom why there was a lock on the outside that only prevented anyone inside from getting out.

Umm, let me out, please? Someone NOT named Einstein did a beautiful job of installing a sturdy new lock on the wrong side of the door.

After nearly 2 days, Lupe finally got to go on a trail again. The most interesting part of the trail to Kersey Lake was at almost the very start, where a bridge crossed the Clarks Fork of the Yellowstone. Before even crossing the bridge, there was a bench from which to observe a pleasant bend in the river, plus a little side spur off the main trail with a view of the river below after it went over a waterfall in a narrow gorge.

Lupe, Lanis, and SPHP followed the trail all the way to Kersey Lake, only to find that it didn’t go down to the shore. It was hard to find anywhere, even off the trail, with much of a view of the lake. Lupe didn’t care. The trail went through the forest. That meant squirrels! The shrill bark of a very happy American Dingo echoed through the trees.

The Clarks Fork of the Yellowstone rushes into a narrow gorge. Photo taken from the bridge near the start of the trail to Kersey Lake.

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Want more Lupe adventures? Choose from Lupe’s 2012 West Coast Adventure Index, Dingo Vacations Adventure Index or Master Adventure Index. Or subscribe free to new Lupe adventures.

Category: Dingo Vacations

Gardner Lake & Beartooth Pass, Wyoming (8-14-12 & 8-15-12)

Norris Geyser Basin & Mammoth Hot Springs in Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming (8-13-12)